No one inside the Boston Bruins' dressing room was publicly distressed over Tuesday night's 7-5 scrimmage loss to their own farm team, but the result of that game was certainly an ice-cold slap in the spoked-B.

If there's an upside of losing to the Providence Bruins, it's that almost two years now removed from their 2011 run to the Stanley Cup the Boston Bruins have unmistakable proof that they are still a team that scales mountains only when collectively reaching the highest of battle levels.

Motivation should be no problem on Saturday night when the New York Rangers, who like the Bruins aspire to the championship, are the opponent. The owners' lockout that held the 2012-13 National Hockey League season hostage for three months is over, and the puck drops at TD Garden at 7 p.m. (NESN, 98.5).

Below are five things that could go wrong but must go right in order for this abbreviated season of Bruins hockey to turn into something special:

None of Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand played hockey during the NHL lockout. That's three top-six forwards and three of the Bruins' top four wingers. The Bruins led the league in European representation with 12 playing overseas during the fall, but they may also lead the league entering the season with top-end forwards feeling significant rust. The classic effects of the choice not to play are the dreaded groin pull and other injuries. We've seen Horton, a two-time Game 7 hero in 2011, and Lucic feed off each other's confidence and frustration as linemates. It'll fall on the shoulders of their center, David Krejci, who played in his native Czech Republic, to carry them while they play catch-up. Caught behind the play, either has the propensity to take a bad penalty, and both can also be goaded by antagonists. Worst-case scenario: A collective impression of the Tin Man on the Wizard of Oz (ie. "oil can!"). Best-case scenario: No injuries, patience prevails and the Bruins score enough to make the playoffs before the dormant trio hits stride when it matters most: in May and June.

If not for a league-leading 1.97 goals-against average over 45 games when he took the No. 1 job away from an injured Tim Thomas in 2010, the prospects of Tuukka Rask jumping into the Boston net on a full-time basis would prompt general manager Peter Chiarelli to go out and acquire a band-aid goalie not named Manny Fernandez or Marty Turco. The downside is Rask was banged up himself during a 13-game playoff run that ended so horribly against Philadelphia. The last two years, he's played 29 and 23 games as Thomas' understudy, sporting an impressive 2.05 GAA last season. But no more waiting for prime time after the 38-year-old Thomas announced a surprising sabbatical. Going on 26 (March 10), the fans are ready for Tuukka Time. But how far has he come since 2010? While several Bruins signed multiyear contract extensions over the summer, Rask settled on a one-year deal worth $3.5 million that leaves him at a fork in the road. "I don't like to take pressure about anything, but if I play to my level I'm sure everything will be fine," said Rask. "You can only manage certain things, and you just try to keep your focus on that — how good you can be — and just bring that every night." Worst-case scenario: Rask gets injured during the dense schedule, and it's up to rookie Anton Khudobin to get them home. Best-case scenario: Rask achieves a potential widely believed among NHL scouts to be an elite-level stopper.

Two years ago, the Bruins survived two rounds of playoffs while gradually improving a stuck-in-the-mud power play. They wound up with an average, down-the-middle stat, better at home than on the road. Turns out they didn't need the power play on the road, scoring short-handed instead in Game 7 at Vancouver. Last season they did not survive their man-advantage predictability and lost to the Washington Capitals in the opening round of the playoffs. The reinvention so far includes two five-man units. The first one has Horton, Lucic and Tyler Seguin up front with Zdeno Chara and Krejci at the points, and the second one has Patrice Bergeron, Chris Bourque and Marchand up front with rookie Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg at the points. Even with some success, there is zero doubt here that Rich Peverley, who led the Bruins in playoff scoring last spring with 3-2-5 totals in seven games, will factor. Peverley can play any forward position and add something, and coach Claude Julien tends to lean on the versatile. Worst-case scenario: New names, same games and Boston relying too heavily on its stellar 5-on-5 play. Best-case scenario: Hamilton's Kluzak-like mobility at the point makes the Bruins less predictable and harder to defend with the man advantage.

The former second-overall pick enjoyed a breakout season that seemed to stem from his shot-out-of-a-cannon playoff debut against the Lightning in 2011. Having watched from the press box for the first 11 games, his appearances in Games 1 and 2 of the conference final were made possible when Bergeron needed the time to shake off a mild concussion from a garbage-time hit by Claude Giroux in the waning minutes of Boston's sweep of the Flyers. The motivation Seguin got from the benching led to consecutive performances that kept him in the lineup for the final 13 games of Boston's playoff run. Seguin carried the momentum into last season, leading the Bruins in scoring with 29-38-67 totals. He only put up 2 goals and an assist in seven games against Washington, but lit it up over in Switzerland this past fall while the NHL and the NHLPA were engaged in a labor war. Is he ready to become an NHL superstar? Seguin will turn 21 on Jan. 31, but the former center will start the current season riding right wing again with Bergeron and Marchand. Worst-case scenario: Seguin is overconfident and plateau's at a level of doubt as to his upside. Best-case scenario: Seguin can stay right where he is and keep getting better at the blue-collar parts of the game while breaking the 40-goal threshold.

When teams get beat like a drum, they tend to make offseason moves that emulate or at least answer the more formidable opponent. When no one went after Lucic after Boston's burly left wing ran over Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller in a game last year at TD Garden, Miller's angry postgame comments shamed his Buffalo teammates into holding a players-only meeting. It was the beginning of a change in the philosophy of Boston's Northeast Division rivals. The Sabres — and the Montreal Canadiens for that matter — have been embarrassed by the Bruins' superior toughness and have added tough guys to go to battle with this time around. Buffalo acquired former Dallas pest Steve Ott (153, 186 and 156 PIMs in his last three seasons) and Montreal has brought in Brandon Prust (160, 156 in his last two). This doesn't bode well for Lucic and Horton, two guys wearing bulls-eyes, one for revenge's sake and the other because he's missed over a year of hockey thanks to concussions. And, while we're at it, the results of Adam McQuaid's ill-timed tussle with Providence Bruins pugilist Bobby Robins is a message to any dormant NHL player who drops the gloves to get himself back into the swing of things. Worst-case scenario: the Bruins lose composure getting beat in all facets by more prepared players. Best-case scenario: the Bruins get everyone involved in the physical game and send a group message to teams hoping to even the score with specialists.

Mick Colageo covers hockey for The Standard-Times. Contact him at mcolageo@s-t.com and visit Rink Rap at blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins